Senator seeks to lower costly insulin

April Reiss News Editor

Dustin Elliot, a junior at Millard South, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was 5 years old. This diagnosis changed his life. Now, Dustin carries a small pouch filled with his diabetic supplies, including his life-saving prescription. This prescription is insulin.

Elliot and his parents and caregivers have been managing his diabetes everyday since his diagnosis.

“I was just laying at home and all of a sudden I started not feeling well and throwing up. They [his parents] called the doctor and the doctor told them to take me to the ER. When I got to the emergency room, the first thing they did was a finger prick to check to see what my blood sugar was. All it said was that it was above 600 but they wanted to know what the exact blood sugar number was so they took blood from my arm. My blood sugar was 1077.” recalled Elliot on the day of his diagnosis. Diabetes is currently incurable and is just as much a mental battle as a physical battle everyday.

“The constant mental battle of feeling like you’ve done everything you can with diabetes and it’s still not enough. The constant doctor’s trips when you feel like you’ve done a lot of work but there’s still more to improve. The constant knowledge that the disease is never going away.” Andrew Reiss said, a Millard South alumnus.

Reiss was diagnosed when he was 18 months old. His whole life that he can remember has revolved around his diabetes.

“I can never leave the house empty handed. I’m supposed to do 5 shots a day. I’ve taken 32,850 insulin shots in my life. And on no activity day, I check my blood sugar 6 times a day, which is 39,420 checks in my lifetime.” Reiss said.

Insulin is a way for people to treat their type 1 diabetes, the only downside is insulin prices are rising and have been rising for years.

Between the years 2002 and 2013, the price of insulin had almost tripled. But, Sen. Tom Briese is looking for a way to fix these prices in the state of Nebraska.

Briese introduced a bill to the legislature that limits the amount an insured person pays for prescription insulin drugs. This limit would be $100 for a 30-day supply of insulin. Currently, the cost ranges from around $175 to $300 per package in the US. A person, depending on their age and weight, might utilize more than one package a month.

“Insulin truly is a lifesaving drug for those afflicted with diabetes and we need to do what we can so that those afflicted can get what they need,” said Briese

Briese knows the struggles of the Nebraska people going through troubles of getting the insulin they need.

“I have a family member who is a type 1 diabetic… we have lived that experience with rising insulin costs,” Briese said.

The bill has a hearing scheduled for February 7th, 2023. Getting a good response from the legislative is an important part of getting this bill to law.

“Rising healthcare costs, rising prescription drug costs, including insulin is hammering everyday Nebraskans… this is one small step we can take to help those folks,” Briese said. Elliot now uses insulin to help treat his diabetes. The insulin bill would affect him and his family.

“I think it’s about time they did something about it [insulin prices] because the cost of diabetic supplies in general has been absolutely ridiculous… It makes it easier for me to get insulin,” Elliot said.

Cost of insulin per month